Today’s headlines: Energy costs drive inflation, DOE reinstates canceled grant, and more

This roundup of U.S. energy news headlines is part of our Canary Media Daily newsletter. Sign up to get it in your inbox each morning.

ENERGY PRICES

• Oil and gas executives warn the White House that gasoline prices could surge in the coming months as fuel inventories fall to critical lows. (Washington Post)
• U.S. inflation accelerates, with the Consumer Price Index rising 4.2% in May from a year earlier, largely due to spiking energy costs triggered by the war in Iran. (Politico, New York Times)

BATTERIES

• The DOE reinstates a nearly $58 million grant to American Battery Technology Co., making the firm — which plans to build a commercial-scale refinery to produce battery-grade lithium hydroxide — one of the few grantees to successfully appeal the Trump administration’s clawbacks. (Waste Dive, release)
• Panasonic plans to​start mass-producing battery cells​for data center applications at a ⁠Kansas plant by 2029. (Reuters)

SOLAR

• Solar hits a new hourly generation record in New York, meeting about 29% of the state’s electricity demand around noon on June 3, mostly thanks to behind-the-meter systems. (Utility Dive)
• Developer Cypress Creek Energy closes on $3.5 billion in financing for one of the biggest solar and battery projects in the U.S., the first phases of which will boast 1.6 GW of solar and 1.9 GWh of storage in Arkansas for use by an undisclosed tech firm. (Bloomberg)

GRID

• FERC approves PJM Interconnection’s proposal to fast-track interconnection requests for certain large power plants, rejecting concerns from energy company Vistra, state regulators, and others. (Utility Dive)

DATA CENTERS

• Texas’ Republican Gov. Greg Abbott releases sweeping recommendations on data centers for the Legislature to pass in the 2027 session, including requirements that new facilities add power generation to the grid and pay for their own grid costs. (Texas Tribune)
• EPA head Lee Zeldin says the Trump administration won’t set nationwide environmental requirements or recommendations for the rapidly growing data center industry. (Politico)

NUCLEAR

• Holtec considers eventually building four small modular reactors totaling nearly 1.3 GW at its shuttered Oyster Creek nuclear station in New Jersey. (Asbury Park Press)

BUILDINGS

• Entech says AI software rolled out a year ago has slashed emissions across 401 New York City apartment buildings by nearly 25% and saved property owners over $5 million in total by helping boilers run more efficiently. (Heatmap)